Habitat Owner's Thread

[kb7our]

Great stories and pics guys! Setup and take down are even faster when you can keep the mattresses in place! We're on our way to Mt Graham on Thu for several days of camping and some area hiking near 9000'. Hope to take in a nice view of the Perseids as well should we have a clear night. Looking forward to testing out the latest sealing mods that include adding a few strips of Velcro to hold down parts of the rain skirting along the rear sides and a little tweaking to pull down the material around both sides of the hinge area. Sealed up all the places where the attic net attaches (loops) as well. Also a fresh pair of DHP batteries were needed (ready to power the 12V mattress pad ) and the Jeep just had the driver's side exhaust manifold (plus head gasket on that side) replaced at 58K miles. Should be good to go! Maybe some fresh trout eats if we get lucky at Riggs Lake. Possibly play with a little alcohol stove muffin baking too. I'll be sporting the temp awning I posted a while back although am also still waiting for the Nemo version to appear one day.

 

[Healeyjet]

Please post up a photo or description of your Velcro skirt hold downs. That is a mod we need to do yet.
Thanks
Ward

 

[TenaciousTJ]

Ward, thanks for the info. I live just south of Seattle, and a buddy of mine spotted your rig at the museum in Bellevue and snapped a few pics a few days ago. I'm am still considering the habitat and its good to hear from somebody who doesn't live within reasonable driving distance to AT to have these minor issues/annoyances fixed.

My plan is to drop my Jeep off for a week or so, have the top dialed in, stage 2 drawer installed, and some other things. I'm an extremely interested in checking out your set up, if you ever make it back down to WA. I too have the stage 1 set up, and fridge/stove slide with National Luna fridge. The way my fride is mounted, the lid contacts the glass window strut, so I'm curious how yours is all mounted and of course, I'd love to take a peek at your Habitat.

Here's my set up, in which I'll obviously ditch the trailer and M416 when I get the Habitat. This pic is from our recent 17 day trip to Mojave Rd, Grand Canyon, Alvord Desert, and many places in between.




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[Healeyjet]

TenaciousTJ, too bad we didn't hook up when we were in Seattle. You have a great looking rig as well and I love to check out other setups when we get a chance. If you are looking to sit in a campground and not visit anyone the Habitat is not for you. LOL. The one thing it does is attract a fair bit of attention everywhere you go.

The top of my fridge does make contact with the window strut. It is a bit of a pain at times as the top doesn't open fully which makes it hard to get the baskets out. We put up with this for the sake of the freezer though. It is SO nice having a freezer portion so there must be a compromise. The one thing we find is that we have so much room once we have a place for everything. We have the gear shelf so the PETT toilet and folding chairs go up there. The shelter for the PETT toilet goes between the roll bar and the passenger side rear window area. The first aid kit is between the roll bar and the rear drivers window area. We put a Rubbermaid container on top of the drawer with all of our food in it. Cooking equipment, bumper pumper etc go in the drawer. I need to find a good place for tools yet, I have been putting them in the jack stowage area for now. My duffel bag of clothing goes up on the gear shelf. Annie's suitcase goes in the back on top of the rear seat which is folded down. Camera bag goes beside Annie's suitcase which makes it easily accessible. We were all packed up for our 11 day trip and looked at each other in disbelief, as though we missed something in the packing as we had so much room left. After four or five days on the road we had to take some time to reorganize everything as we had stopped at REI and Exofficio and a couple of quilting stores.

What we have really been enjoying is the ability to pull in to a rest stop or any area and make lunch. The ease of setup and take down is amazing. We love it so far.

As for living a long ways from AT that was a definite concern as far as any warranty issues go. As far as tweaking everything, it has been very enjoyable to do a lot of it myself. The guys at AT as you know are very helpful and willing to share ideas. This forum is an excellent way to get ideas on how to fine tune the setup even more as the people here are very willing to share. So far the experience has been excellent. I must confess, Annie and I are not seasoned off-roader's or campers. I have spent a lot of time outdoors but at a cabin. We tented a few times with our kids about 10 years ago. Purchasing the Habitat has been an exercise in getting out into the world to see a new perspective and we are loving it. We have stayed fairly close to roads so far but hope to venture on to some forest service roads a bit more as we gain experience and confidence in our Jeep's abilities.

Ward

 

[DingusKahn]

If moving the gas shock out by an inch will clear the fridge lid better, here is how I fixed it on the other side for my water faucet.

I took off the original mounting bracket, cut it in half, added a section (about 1-1/4") and welded it back up. It moves the gas strut out enough to clear the arm for my water faucet but does not hit the rubber gasket you see behind it that seals the rear window. I bet a welding shop would do it for you for $30 to $50 in short order.

See more here;
http://www.expeditionportal.com/for...abitat-Official-Release?p=1188448#post1188448

 

[Healeyjet]

DK, that would be a great solution if it were not for the fact that the NL fridge/freezer has three hinges on the back and one of them lines up right with the gas shock. I removed the shock from the window end and moved it all around to check and the plastic hinge piece still makes contact. I am not sure there is a solution to this one other than getting a different fridge. I wanted the freezer so this is the only option for us.





Ward

 

[DingusKahn]

Didn't know it opened side ways. So it has two compartments? My ARB can freeze, but all or nothing. Figure out how to make it come out a few more inches....

 

[Healeyjet]

The part furthest inboard is a freezer and it goes down about 8 inches. The near compartment has two baskets inside and it fills the whole space to the bottom. It is a very nice unit and does a very good job. It is just the size is a bit larger than the other fridges I believe and thus the issue with the window prop. We wanted the fridge /freezer and this was the only option we could find and even with the interference issue we are still perfect with our choice.

Ward

 

[brianjwilson]

Ok I give up. What does NL stand for? I haven't seem that fridge/freezer combo.

 

[cwsqbm]

Ok I give up. What does NL stand for? I haven't seem that fridge/freezer combo.

National Luna.

 

[brianjwilson]

Thanks. It came to me about five minutes later...

 

[TenaciousTJ]

The part furthest inboard is a freezer and it goes down about 8 inches. The near compartment has two baskets inside and it fills the whole space to the bottom. It is a very nice unit and does a very good job. It is just the size is a bit larger than the other fridges I believe and thus the issue with the window prop. We wanted the fridge /freezer and this was the only option we could find and even with the interference issue we are still perfect with our choice.

Ward

Yep, this is my exact same issue. I had an Engel fridge, but wanted the NL for the same reasons, and I love it. However, the lid issue is the only thing I dislike about the setup. AT has this same fridge in their JK, so I wonder if they have a fix/work around they use? Another option, which I haven't tried yet is to change the opening of the fridge so it opens long ways, like the Engel.


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[Healeyjet]

I thought of that as well but it appears the optional end hinges are on the outboard end so it would open up towards the interior. The other end has the wiring and controls on it so you can't just turn it around either.
Ward

 

[kb7our]

Please post up a photo or description of your Velcro skirt hold downs. That is a mod we need to do yet.
Thanks
Ward

First test was yesterday evening during hail and a nice heavy rain shower up at Mt Graham. HD Velcro is attached to the tent using Seam Grip and self sticky to the shell. Just a short strip of a few inches near the back and as you can see, the entire flap sits nice and flat the way it should.

 

[will]

Nice. I need to do that too!